Rensselaerville church's spire will rise again

Published 8:11 pm, Saturday, April 7, 2012

Christian Stewart of Altamont works to secure the Rensselaerville Presbyterian Church spire before removing the spire for repairs Friday morning in Rensselaerville, September 3, 2010. (Will Waldron / Times Union)

Christian Stewart of Altamont works to secure the Rensselaerville...

Workers prepare to remove the Rensselaerville Presbyterian Church spire for repairs in Rensselaerville Friday morning in Rensselaerville, September 3, 2010. (Will Waldron / Times Union)

A wooden spire that graced a Rensselaerville church for more than 160 years will rise again this summer.

The 32-foot spire and the 14-foot mast that kept it in place were removed from the Rensselaerville Presbyterian Church in September 2010. Though the hamlet has a population of only 200, some three dozen people filled its streets to watch the delicate operation to take it down.

Water had leaked into the wooden structure of the steeple, undermining it. The spire had stood atop the Greek Revival church since it opened in 1843.

Now the committee overseeing the restoration work has finished raising the $300,000 needed, and the spire is in the hands of Tuttle Construction Co. The wooden steeple will be enclosed in lead-covered copper and painted.

"It needs to be patched up and then it's going to be clad in metal," said Tim Zinn, chairman of the church's building committee. "We're close. We're very close. It cost more than we thought it would."

But Zinn said the steeple is expected to be finished and ready to be raised this summer. Originally the hope was to get it back in place by late June. Now he said it is looking more likely to be in late July or August.

"It's just a few holdups here and there from our original schedule," he said.

Gayle Burgess, fundraiser for the effort, said the project received $155,000 from the Environmental Protection Fund, $41,000 in two separate state Sacred Sites grants, and the rest through foundations and private donations.

"We should have all the funds we need," she said. Many of the grants require the committee to pay for the work up front and then get reimbursed.

"We had to take a loan to cover our costs," she said.

She gave credit to Barbara Dudley, an avid fundraiser for the project who died in December, for bringing in the final funds necessary to complete the work.

"She was primarily responsible for the last push during the fall and winter so we were able to raise the last $70,000," she said.

The dispute began when contractor Eastern Ontario Emergency Services, which provided ambulance service during the day when RVA members were working, was locked out of the building when RVA changed the locks after a dispute.

Volunteers at Wednesday's meeting said they felt Eastern was trying to take over the ambulance and it caused problems. After the mayor was informed of the situation, the city stopped using the ambulance.

The service began in 1969 with members using cars packed with emergency equipment. The first ambulance, a used 1966 Pontiac, was purchased and on March 4, 1973, 24-hour service began with 37 trained members.

One volunteer, 86-year-old Marion Mohan, was there from the beginning and came to Wednesday's meeting to give elected officials a good scolding.

"When I started out, I had to learn to use the Jaws of Life," Mohan said. "These people give of their own time to help the people of Rensselaer."

"We've worked darned hard for all these years and this is what we get," the white-haired Mohan said, pounding her fist on a lectern she leaned against. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves."

Dwyer told the Common Council on Wednesday that the city needs a service that will provide advanced life support (ALS) and the volunteers provide only basic life support (BLS) services and are unlikely to get a contract unless they upgrade.

Mike Stammel, a county legislator who serves on the ambulance service board, told elected officials at the meeting that they were making a mistake.

"We have the membership and we have the personnel ready to go and yet we were just thrown out the door," Stammel said.

Stammel said most ambulance calls are BLS and to now require volunteers to provide ALS is like an unfunded mandate.

"Six or seven years ago RVA funding was totally cut from the city budget and now the city wants us to upgrade?" Stammel said.

"I will not gamble with people's lives," Dwyer said. "I want full coverage, including ALS."